I’ve tossed this episode around in my thoughts all week, and I still don’t have my head around it. I wrote and scrapped hundreds of words, hoping that some clear conclusions would surface. In turn, I’ve been ecstatic, disgusted, inspired, aroused, and pissed off by The Reckoning.

I really didn’t want to dwell on the beating scene all that long. Clearly, the showrunner didn’t want to dwell on it too long, either. Ronald D. Moore does have a strong argument for curtailing the “spanking” as he calls it. It’s a different experience to see something; it’s far more intense than reading it. Still, I’m left thinking that writing, directorial, and editing choices took the easy way out on this one. Imagine if they hadn’t. Claire’s posterior might have accomplished what Kim Kardashian’s didn’t. The internet might have actually broken this time.

The fact that this week’s review has been so hard to write reminds me how damned exquisite this story is, both in novel and television format. If I wanted less challenge, I’d spend some time with a bodice-ripper. Better yet, I’d plop down with that turns-my-stomach-to-mention-the-name-of, god-awful tripe-turned-pseudo-sado-flick that lazy reviewers continue to insist upon comparing to Outlander. I’m verbose, but I’m not lazy. So, this review will be posted in two parts. The source material’s more than sufficient fodder.